Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Gonzales, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Gonzales in the 24 hours to 2:37 pm PST (22:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 21 km (13 mi) NE, at 2:58 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Gonzales
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Gonzales, CA, at 4:02 am PDT on 13 March 2017 (11:02 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 13km ENE of Gonzales, CA
93 km (58 mi) SSE of San Jose, CA · 32 km (20 mi) ESE of Salinas, CA
- When
- 4:02 am PDT on 13 March 2017 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Gonzales, CA · earthquakes near Gonzales
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Benito County, 22 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 11 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3074 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gonzales, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Gonzales, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Gonzales, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Soledad, Chualar, Greenfield, Ridgemark.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2016-07-19 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 10 km SE of Tres Pinos, California · 21 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Paicines, California · 14 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 7 km SW of Hollister, California · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 12 km S of Tres Pinos, California · 14 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 3 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California · 27 km N of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 36.5598, -121.3185. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 22 km (13 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Benito County |
| Monterey County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | S | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Cruz County |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Clara County |
| Merced County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Merced County |
| Stanislaus County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Stanislaus County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 21 km NE of Soledad, California
- 2.3 Central California
- 1.7 5 km WNW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 2.4 4 km ENE of Tres Pinos, California
- 1.5 Central California
- 1.7 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 2.9 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 1.9 3 km WSW of San Juan Bautista, California
- 1.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 2.4 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 1.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 2.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 2.1 3 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 1.6 4 km ESE of Aromas, California
- 3.2 5 km ESE of Aromas, California
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.